Erysimum cheiri

Aegean wallflower

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: biennial · Not Native

Aegean wallflower is a naturalized biennial found on Santa Catalina Island and eastern Transverse Ranges in disturbed areas at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces strikingly variable flowers ranging from orange, yellow, and brown to purple, red, and white, with petals 20 to 35 millimeters long. Growing 1.5 to 8 decimeters tall with a woody base, it develops branching stems with distinctive two- to three-rayed hairs. Its leaves are oblanceolate to obovate, 3 to 15 millimeters wide, with entire margins covered in multi-branched hairs. The fruit develops as a long cylindric pod 3 to 10 centimeters in length, bearing 32 to 44 flattened seeds with potential wing-like extensions.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: s ChI (Santa Catalina Island), e WTR

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.